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3/30/2009
Give up 2% of my assets? Where does this stuff come from?
Where is this nation going? Here’s a gentleman who believes the answer to our country’s crisis is for all families with a net worth to contribute (contribute???) a 2% surcharge of their net worth on a one-time basis.
While just about everyone in our nation has lost some net worth, I suspect there are still many in our nation who still have a fair pot of personal wealth and some who have a very large pot of substantial wealth. For a crisis that is rooted in our economic system, people who have economic means may be our most meaningful resource to restore our common viability.
How much working capital would we bring forward if all individuals, couples, families with a net worth of $200,000 and up contributed a 2 percent surcharge of their net worth on a one-time basis? I have no expertise to estimate what such an amount would be, but it would have to be a sum of several trillions.
Effectively administered, a pot of such size would restart our national economy to the benefit of just about everybody, especially the future generations who will be on the hook for further deficits we’ll incur under our current system. Paradoxically, it will ultimately also benefit the contributors to this fund, in most cases, more than the 2 percent they put forward initially, as the value of their holdings increase with the economic recovery.
We need to jump outside of the usual economic box and recognize where we still have resources while they still exist. This program does not blame people for having wealth; it is, however, appealing to them as a major national resource. And then this guy says “Join me … outside the box.” Oh brother.
Are we up for using our collective wealth to plug the holes appearing in our dike. Or does our cherished individualism preclude wisdom and generosity? Comments following the article get it. They get just what this apparently well-intentioned writer is asking for. My assets, my savings, the results of disciplined living – traded for bad decisions up and down the line? Read it. More of us need to be offended.
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
Will George Soros, who called the economic mess in America the "culmination of his life's work" contribute? He actually MADE money.
emily matthews (Tue Mar 31 08:45:01 2009)
In another context, not so dumb an idea. Mr Schneyer is just a bit behind the chronological times. President Bush should have levied a war tax in 2002 to finance his war in Iraq instead of cutting taxes for the upper crust. Congress should institute the draft if we really want to extricate ourselves from two wars, now.
The poor sap at the LT was asking for constructive ideas and newspapers print that kind of drivel because it is cheaper to fill column inches with a, "letters," columns than to pay for real reporting. How is this an important story for anyone reading this blog in the first place?
non quixote (Tue Mar 31 23:23:11 2009)
Perhaps, Mr. Non Quixote (cute), if you aim to be sarcastic, you might reconsider your choice to be anonymous.
Jo (Wed Apr 1 06:34:15 2009)
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